Gossip Girl premiere recap

Professional TV junky Deanna Barnert covers all corner of Tinseltown but good television is her passion. Visiting sets, interviewing industry players and critiquing the final product are all in a day's work, as is losing an evening or a...

Gossip Girl goes Paris

Gossip Girl kicked off the 2010 fall season with a healthy dose of BFF rivalry, French princes, new dad drama and the rebirth of Ed Westwick’s Chuck Bass!

Over in Gay Paris, Blair lost her chance at a real prince and suffered yet another bout of BFF rivalry. Poor Miss Thing just can't get over having "It Girl" Serena as her best pal.

As we caught up with the Gossip Girlgirls, it was clear Serena had buried her woes in handsome French boys, while Blair focused on shopping, strolling museums and pining.

Then Blair got just what she was pining for (or so she thought!): In a very romantic move, a handsome gent picked her up at the Louvre.

Blair's business

Unfortunately, once she got the idea that Louis might be a royal, Blair went all social climber on him. She dragged Serena along for a double date, only to fall for the oldest vetting trick in the book.

Her prince convinced her he was the driver, while Serena's date was the prince. Blair practically stomped her feet at the idea.

Then on the Gossip Girl premiere, she learned Serena had transferred to Columbia and had a serious brat attack. Blair begged for a chance to take on college without Serena's glam shadow cast over her. When that didn't work, she dunked her in a pond! After Serena stormed off, Blair's prince charming revealed himself and left her hanging!

An apologetic Blair returned to beg Serena's forgiveness and admitted she was still completely heartbroken over Chuck's betrayal last season.

While the girls kissed and made plans to take on NYC together again, Dan was dealing with a completely different kind of drama.

After a summer of hiding out with and settling into parenthood in Brooklyn, Dan's baby mama Georgina revealed their big secret to his parents: Little Milo! She showed off a paternity test and Dan finally signed the birth certificate, instead of waiting for his own test.

He should really change his name to "mark" because he can't seem to learn his lesson when it comes to Georgina.

The schemer is in some kind of trouble, for a change, and that became apparent after she had a Russian yelling match over the phone. Once she had Dan's signature, she slipped out with her bags, leaving Dan to the life of a single dad.

Nate's game

Meanwhile, Nate had made it all the way to the V's in Chuck's little black book, but a summer of partying with hot babes finally got the better of him.

It helped that he met gorgeous socialite Juliet, who seemed to really get him. He quickly falls for Juliet's game, but sadly, it is just a game.

Not only is Juliet retagging her high fashion duds so she can return after wearing, but the most interesting decoration in her dingy little apartment is a map of the Gossip Girl drama! Is she looking to marry up? Or does she have something more wicked in mind?

What about Chuck Bass?

After getting mugged in Prague, Chuck Bass was MIA all summer and most of the episode. Then Lily got a call that a body had washed up on shore bearing his ID. Chuck Bass is indeed dead, but he's also been reborn. After a sweet blonde found him in Prague and nursed him back to health, he decided to start over.

After removing his royal CB ring, Chuck renamed himself Henry Prince. In spite of the nod to Henry V, it seems the young prince of NYC has removed his crown to claim the life of an everyday man. Of course, for Chuck Bass, all roads lead back to Blair. Case in point, the final moment of the Gossip Girl seasonpremiere saw Henry and his new lady friend arrive in Paris… where Blair has just admitted she can't seem to get over him.

Tune in next week for the big reunion -- unless one of them ducks out!